One of the more entertaining and pervasive types of toys manufactured and sold through the years have been those which replicate a variety of vehicles. Common types of toy vehicles used by children for many years have included airplanes, boats, automobiles, trucks, and trains and the like. As toy designers have worked toward increasing the play value and entertainment value of such toy vehicles, various toy vehicle types have been developed which undergo shape or configuration changes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,556 issued to Iwao, et al. sets forth a TOY VEHICLE CAPABLE OF CHANGING SIZE AND SHAPE in which a compound vehicle chassis includes first and second chassis members. The chassis members are movable with respect to one another and are interconnected such that they can be moved between a first and second position. The vehicle further includes a movable member associated with one of the chassis members and various interlocking body panels supported upon the chassis permit a vehicle such as a van or the like to be reconfigured by body panel and chassis motion to assume the shape corresponding to a helicopter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,693 issued to Kennedy, et al. sets forth a TOY CRASH VEHICLE in which a motorized toy car is provided with a chassis upon which a hollow body is mounted. The front portion of the body includes a simulated bumper and hinged side door. A movable sled slidably supported upon the chassis is secured to the vehicle front portion. The vehicle front portion is made of a deformable material and is secured to the sled such that motion of the sled with respect to the chassis causes the vehicle front end to assume alternative shapes or configurations. In its preferred form, one shape corresponds to the normal vehicle configuration while the other conforms to a caved in or crashed front portion. A spring is coupled to the sled whereby the vehicle may be restored to a normal configuration upon releasing the sled.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,511 issued to Lee, et al. sets forth a TOY CRASH VEHICLE WITH SKEWABLE FRONT WHEELS in which a toy vehicle includes a hollow body mounted upon a chassis and having a front portion formed of a resilient material and freely movable with respect to the chassis. The front wheels are supported upon short axles pivotally secured to the chassis which, in their normal state, are parallelly arranged. In the crashed state, the resilient front end portion of the vehicle is caved inwardly or crashed in and the front axles pivot to assume a non-parallel relationship skewing the front wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,676,296 issued to Spencer sets forth a FIGURE TOY in which a toy figure is supported upon a generally circular curved bimetallic disk. The bimetallic disk changes from a convex to concave curvature under the influence of temperature changes which in turn provides a jumping action for the toy.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,140 issued to Kim sets forth TOYS WITH SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS in which a variety of toys are formed of shape memory alloys such as nitinol such that the toys may be readily deformed and thereafter heated causing them to return to their original shape.
While the foregoing described prior art toys have provided increased amusement and entertainment value, there remains a neverending need in the art for further improvements, modifications and changes to toy vehicles which further improve and increase the entertainment values thereof.